ML18072A043
| ML18072A043 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | HI-STORE |
| Issue date: | 03/09/2018 |
| From: | Leavell C, Kernan G, Griggs R, Charles Brown, Townsend J, Scott L, Gallegos D State of NM, Senate |
| To: | Jeff Baran, Stephen Burns, Kristine Svinicki NRC/OCM |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18092A044 | List: |
| References | |
| LTR-18-0092 | |
| Download: ML18072A043 (13) | |
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A MEMORIAL REQUESTING THE EDDY-LEA ENERGY ALLIANCE TO DEVELOP A CONSOLIDATED INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY.
WHEREAS, the 2013 report from the blue ribbon commission on America's nuclear future strongly recommended that one or more consolidated interim storage facilities be established to temporarily store the spent nuclear fuel generated by America's nuclear fleet, which generates approximately twenty percent of the electricity in the United States; and WHEREAS, nuclear power plants are an important carbon-free source of reliable electricity production in the United States, and without them, America would be emitting six hundred million metric tons, or twenty-five percent more, of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually; and WHEREAS, there are thirteen decommissioned reactors in the United States that need a place for their used fuel to be stored, and about twenty more will be decommissioned by 2035; and WHEREAS, many power generators have overly packed fuel pools, and others have very limited on-site storage capability; and WHEREAS, the nuclear power utilities have standard contracts with the United States government requiring that the United States government take possession of the SM 34 Page 1
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 utilities' spent fuel by 1998 and remove it from their sites to Yucca mountain, which has not happened because Yucca mountain is mired in numerous technical issues; and WHEREAS, all of the utilities have sued the United States government for breach of contract and have won settlement agreements that will pay the utilities from United States government settlement funds all of their storage and management costs associated with their spent nuclear fuel from 1998 beyond until the United States government is able to take possession of the fuel and remove it to a temporary consolidated storage site or a permanent repository; and WHEREAS, the blue ribbon commission on America's nuclear future estimated that the United States treasury would pay out more than twenty billion dollars ($20,000,000,000) to the utilities by 2020, and thereafter, the cost to the treasury would be five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) per year; and WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance, llc, was formed by the cities of Carlsbad and Hobbs and the counties of Eddy and Lea for economic development purposes; and WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance purchased one thousand acres of land between Carlsbad and Hobbs to respond to a government project as a joint venture that ultimately did not materialize; and SM 34 Page 2
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WHEREAS, the alliance was afforded a grant by the United States government of more than one million dollars
($1,000,000) to characterize the site extensively for environmental, archaeological, geologic, seismic and geographic criteria; and WHEREAS, the alliance was dormant until the blue ribbon commission on America's nuclear future began to focus on consolidated interim storage as an interim step to reduce costs through consolidation of the spent fuel and fulfill the contractual obligations with the utilities; and WHEREAS, the alliance site is ideal for a consolidated interim storage facility because of the technical criteria of the site, because it is thirty-five miles from any population, because there is no overhead air traffic and because there is a trained scientific nuclear workforce in the area; and WHEREAS, the number one concern of the alliance when developing any project on the site is the safety and security of the residents of Eddy and Lea counties; and WHEREAS, the board of directors of the alliance investigated the safety and security concerns extensively through visitations to nuclear manufacturing facilities and nuclear power plants and discussions with the nuclear regulatory commission; and WHEREAS, dry cask storage has been used for more than SM 34 Page 3
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 thirty years in America without incident; and WHEREAS, the alliance has received a favorable proposal from Holtec international to acquire the alliance site and develop it as a consolidated interim storage facility; and WHEREAS, Holtec international's sub-surface system, known as UMAX, is already certified by the nuclear regulatory commission; and WHEREAS, design, construction, safety, security, financial assurance and technical control, as well as the complete process for storage, must be overseen and approved by the nuclear regulatory commission; and WHEREAS, the nuclear regulatory commission approves and certifies all shipping casks, rail cars, trucking or any other method of transit; and WHEREAS, hundreds of shipments of spent fuel have occurred in America over the past thirty years without incident; and WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance believes the Holtec international consolidated interim storage facility will create some one hundred fifty highly paid jobs and will provide a one-billion-two-hundred-million-dollar
($1,200,000,000) capital investment in southeastern New Mexico; and WHEREAS, the alliance believes additional spinoffs in research and repackagi ng could create an additional two SM 34 Page 4
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 hundred jobs in the future; and WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance expects that there will be revenue-sharing income from the project that it expects to share with the state of New Mexico and the region; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the Eddy-Lea energy alliance, llc, be requested to develop a consolidated interim storage facility at its site in southeastern New Mexico; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico congressional delegation, United States Secretary of Energy Edward Moniz and Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy John Kotek.~~~~ SM 34 Page 5
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A MEMORIAL REQUESTING THE EDDY-LEA ENERGY ALLIANCE TO DEVELOP A CONSOLIDATED INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY.
WHEREAS, the 2013 report from the blue ribbon commission on America's nuclear future strongly recommended that one or more consolidated interim storage facilities be established to temporarily store the spent nuclear fuel generated by America's nuclear fleet, which generates approximately twenty percent of the electricity in the United States; and WHEREAS, nuclear power plants are an important carbon-free source of reliable electricity production in the United States, and without them, America would be emitting six hundred million metric tons, or twenty-five percent more, of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually; and WHEREAS, there are thirteen decommissioned reactors in the United States that need a place for their used fuel to be stored, and about twenty more will be decommissioned by 2035; and WHEREAS, many power generators have overly packed fuel pools, and others have very limited on-site storage capability; and WHEREAS, the nuclear power utilities have standard contracts with the United States government requiring that the United States government take possession of the HM 40 Page 1
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 utilities' spent fuel by 1998 and remove it from their sites to Yucca mountain, which has not occurred because Yucca mountain has yet to be certified as a spent-fuel repository; and WHEREAS, most of the utilities have sued the United States government for breach of contract and have won settlement agreements that will pay the utilities from United States government settlement funds for their storage and management costs associated with their spent nuclear fuel beginning in 1998 until the United States government is able to take possession of the fuel and remove it to a temporary consolidated storage site or a permanent repository; and WHEREAS, the blue ribbon commission on America's nuclear future estimated that the United States treasury would pay out more than twenty billion dollars ($20,000,000,000) to the utilities by 2020, and thereafter, the cost to the treasury would be five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) per year; and WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance, llc, was formed by the cities of Carlsbad and Hobbs and the counties of Eddy and Lea for economic development purposes; and WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance purchased one thousand acres of land between Carlsbad and Hobbs to respond to a government project as a joint venture that ultimately di d not materialize; and HM 40 Page 2
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WHEREAS, the alliance was afforded a grant by the United States government of more than one million dollars
($1,000,000) to characterize the site extensively for environmental, archaeological, geologic, seismic and geographic criteria; and WHEREAS, the alliance was dormant until the blue ribbon commission on America's nuclear future began to focus on consolidated interim storage as an interim step to reduce costs through consolidation of the spent fuel and fulfill the contractual obligations with the utilities; and WHEREAS, the alliance site is ideal for a consolidated interim storage facility because of the technical criteria of the site, because it is thirty-five miles from any population, because there is no overhead air traffic and because there is a trained scientific nuclear workforce in the area; and WHEREAS, the number one concern of the alliance when developing any project on the site is the safety and security of the residents of Eddy and Lea counties; and WHEREAS, the board of directors of the alliance investigated the safety and security concerns extensively through visitations to nuclear manufacturing facilities and nuclear power plants and discussions with the nuclear regulatory commission; and WHEREAS, dry cask storage has been used for more than HM 40 Page 3
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 thirty years in America without incident; and WHEREAS, the alliance has received a favorable proposal from Holtec international to acquire the alliance site and develop it as a consolidated interim storage facility; and WHEREAS, Holtec international's sub-surface system, known as HI-STORM UMAX, is already certified by the nuclear regulatory commission; and WHEREAS, design, construction, safety, security, financial assurance and technical control, as well as the complete process for storage, must be overseen and approved by the nuclear regulatory commission; and WHEREAS, the nuclear regulatory commission approves and certifies all shipping casks, rail cars, trucking or any other method of transit; and WHEREAS, hundreds of shipments of spent fuel have occurred in America over the past thirty years without incident; and WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance believes the Holtec international consolidated interim storage facility will create some one hundred fifty highly paid jobs and will provide a one-billion-two-hundred-million-dollar
($1,200,000,000) capital investment in southeastern New Mexico; and WHEREAS, the alliance believes additional spinoffs in research and repackaging could create an additional two HM 40 Page 4
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 hundred jobs in the future; and WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance expects that there will be revenue-sharing income from the project that it expects to share with the state of New Mexico and the region; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the Eddy-Lea energy alliance, llc, be requested to develop a consolidated interim storage facility at its site in southeastern New Mexico; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico congressional delegation, United States Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy John Kotek.~~~~ HM 40 Page 5
CHAIRMAN Resource From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Attachments:
Good afternoon Commissioners, Hedin, Ryan <ryan.hedin@nmlegis.gov>
Friday, March 09, 2018 4:19 PM CHAIRMAN Resource; CMRBARAN Resource; CMRBurns Resource
[External_Sender] Letter from New Mexico Legislators regarding Holtec CISF Project ELEA Holtec CISF Project Letter.pdf; SM034.pdf; HM040.pdf Please see attached letter from New Mexico House and Senate members. Hard Copies are in the mail.
Thank you, Ryan Hedin Chief of Staff Office of Minority Leader NM House of Representatives 505 986-4792 Office 505 986-4399 Fax 1